If this two- to three week-long writing breaks keep occurring, the title of this post will probably ring true!

Along the same lines, this month is going by fast. Did Thanksgiving really just pass us? Weird. Going onto my third and final Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow evening. Can’t wait.

Other fun news? My birthday. Next week. What? Exactly one week. Kinda scary but moreso exciting. I’m turning 23. The number 23 holds some kind of sentimental value with me. It all began in Grade 3 when I was assigned my very first student number. It was 23. And 23, also coincidentally, is the number of some amazing athletes (ie. Michael Jordan). In other words, a surefire sign that I was destined to be something great (more illustrious than I am now). Also, if you multiply 23 by 3, it equals 69. Another favourite position number of mine.

Anyways, I have a whole birthday weekend planned out to celebrate the birth of me: family dinner Thursday, aquarium and lunch with mom Friday, close friends on Friday night at Rodney’s, and a romantic birthday weekend retreat at the Westin Grand. Can. Not. Wait.

In even more exciting news (and I’ve been keeping this hush-hush for a while now), I’ve hired my first employee! Yes, someone works for me! How cool is that?! No seriously, very relieved. This enables me to have more time for myself, generate more revenue, and hopefully, will pave a way for even better things for Dolce Delights. So proud of me. Go me!

And in even more exciting news than my birthday and new hires and Halloween (pretty much taking a backseat this year) combined, I am leaving for Taiwan and Japan in exactly three weeks and 20 minutes! Booyah.

I love shallow, shameless plugs but this one is of a definite worthy cause!
This Saturday, July 7th, I will be at The Biltmore (2755 Prince Edward) participating in an event called, the local-E Bazaar. This one-day event will highlight many of Vancouver’s talented indie designers and gems and will be featuring a variety of handmade leather goods, jewelry, t-shirts, bathing suits and more! And what will I be doing there? Well, my company, Dolce Delights, will be providing some deliciously indulgent cupcakes — vegan, gluten-free, and full-fat options will be available. I chose to participate in this event because I think it is very important we, small business owners, support eachother and get the community involved as much as possible. We will be there all day from 11:00am-4:00pm and there will even be a full bar in swing (sorry kiddies)! What’s that? Cupcakes, booze, and shopping? What more could a girl possibly ask for? So, if you haven’t gotten a chance to try my cupcakes yet (and by now, you really have no excuse), we hope to see you there!

Check it out! I got one of those dinky grad hats…WOOT! Peace out, SFU!
So…old news if you keep up with my Facebook profile, but yes, I can say that I finally did it! I graduated!!! 4.5 years later, ginormous word counts, and the wonderful memories I’ve created with all the people I have ever met at SFU — thank you! I definitely feel accomplished and although I technically completed all my courses and requirements in December, I finally feel like, “Wow, now the real world is here”. I have no excuses anymore, no more dilly-dallying. It is my time to carve out the person who I want to be.

I have set new goals for myself, for my future, and my business. For myself, budgeting and saving money is a big one. Definitely starting that next month (aka first pay cheque of July aka next week, eek!). Vancouver is an unaffordable city but I still am aiming to own my own place. The dream was a house, but realistically (as realistic as I can be by living in this city), looking at a condo. Two years. 2014 is the goal.

Also starting on my next payday is enrolling in the real estate course at UBC. Yep. Trying to take my future seriously. Yep. It’s another 180 degrees. Yep. Yep. Yep. Realize that I don’t want to do anything in criminology at this point anymore…unless I want to relocate or subject myself to 12-hour shift work positions. For those who don’t know, my dad is a very well-known realtor in this city, especially in the Filipino community who is passionate about his occupation and is so very excited to help me embark on this new journey. I am glad to finally receive support from my family — means a lot to me. I plan to complete it by the end of this year, December 31st, 2012.

Business-wise? I’m just running with it at the moment. Ideally, I would still love to run Dolce Delights full-time. I have had a couple opportunities arise for me to grow the business — it’s just a matter of how I want to grow it. And honestly, the time is now to take risks, challenge myself, and see where this can go. But it needs to be planned. It needs to be calculated. And it needs to be smart. To be honest, I didn’t know what I was doing and I still kind of don’t know what I’m doing with the business. But it’s really time to start thinking and doing this thoroughly.

Although it really took me 4.5 years to complete my undergrad and a mere two hour ceremony for me to walk across that podium and stage, it was really a big milestone for me. And that simple stride pretty much signified a mark of change in my life. Time to start making “big” decisions and join the rest of the adults in this world… hooray?

Gosh, I am so backed up on posts at this point. Next post… my trip to Montreal! Stay tuned.

Despite my mundane routine-ness, I finally have some pretty awesome things to look forward to! So awesome that I can’t even reveal anything yet. If I just count my lucky stars… I’ll make it happen somehow. It’s time for me to take charge and control how my life is going to turn out.

The Cupcake Throwdown is back for its third year in Vancouver and yours truly will be competing once again! It’s taking place on Thursday, February 16th at the Chapel Arts (304 Dunlevy Ave) from 7:00-9:00pm. Admission is only $10.00 which entitles you to 5 tasting tickets (additional tasting tickets available for purchase for $1.00 each) and goes to the social enterprise, H.A.V.E. Cafe. Last year, I competed for the first time and entered my sweet potato and carrot cupcake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and got third place in the taste category. I have yet another innovative flavour that will be both accessible to vegans and celiacs so I do hope to see some of you familiar faces out there! Besides, who can say no to cupcakes?!

So I’m competing in the Enterprize Canada Business Plan Competition on Friday. I received feedback on my business plan lastnight and to be honest, I was a little crushed. I was expecting some honest critique, and well, it was brutally honest. I’m fine with that. Just means that I’ll have to nail the presentation aspect (and bribery aka cupcakes) of the competition.

But there was one comment that really stuck with me. In my original business plan proposal which I had sent in last month to qualify for the competition, I was very general and vague (my mistake; dude, I was a week over the deadline — extension granted); HOWEVER, everything is backed up in my actual presentation with greater detail. Anywho, in my market research component, I stated that “Desserts are stereotypically catered to females”. I acknowledged this. This is a contributing factor as to why a large majority of my clients are of the female population. In response to this, the judge(s) in the qualifying round said: “It may be that Dolce Delights has been marketing itself using feminine designs, which is in fact alienating a large portion of their potential market“. I’m uncomfortable with this. As a lover of pink and ribbons and “cutesy” designs, the brand is reflecting who Iam, what I want my business to look like, and how it will be represented. In no way am I trying to discriminate my products from any gender. For god’s sake, I’m a Gender Studies minor. I am well aware of gender issues, equality, and stereotyping. I do not believe by changing my branding to the colour blue and splashing Hot Wheels (haha aging myself here) silhouettes will garner any prospective male clients.

And WTF does “feminine designs” even refer to? I’m just curious to hear a possible answer to this. Or, in general, how to better market Dolce Delights to the male audience. I think introducing more “manly” (and I say that in quotations for a reason) flavours like the maple bacon one I did a couple days ago is a better approach to be more male-inclusive. Again, this is a product of stereotyping again which can be equally detrimental, which I hate doing.

Also, where/what databases can I use to actually conduct and gather concrete statistics on cupcakes to further support my argument that there is a need for my product? Art major here. Seeking business help.

Kind of a delayed post, but after 4.5 years at SFU, I have finally completed my undergrad. YES! As of Friday at 4:42pm, I completed and handed in my final report for my practicum at the FREDA Centre. On Tuesday evening, I emailed my last ever research project (32 pages!!!) to my prof. Done and done. And it feels so good. Been celebrating all week. Now, I’ve just got to wait six months for my June 2012 convocation.

In the meantime…

…I’ve been catching up with some old friends with some Cupcake Vineyards wine, eating honey-roasted ham at midnight in random art galleries, taking pictures in the middle of the street while dressing up as a hippie prostitute, celebrating peoples’ birthdays, and baking a ton! I also have a new job. The end.